Chapter 227

Hiccups POV:

It's been four weeks since our little mapping expedition and, in that time, not a lot has happened, starting with each of my new dragons being assigned jobs around the island. Thorny and Winda are now a member of the islands guard and spent his days doing patrols, Hurricane joined my scauldrens in watering my plants around my island and Clawla joined Garf as a guard and playmate for the kids. I had to admit, seeing the kids playing with the dragons made me think about the future where the kids have their own dragons to ride and although I could see they had a good bond with the dragons as their playmates, I didn't think they shared the right bond to be rider and mount. Still, I look forward to the day they find the dragons who would serve as their mounts and best friend who would share the same bond me and Toothless have.

Besides that, I'd been pretty busy with chief training under my father who'd even begun assigning various responsibilities to me such as settling fights, solving domestic disputes, helping with construction, welcoming newborns into the tribe and other such things. I had to admit it was not an easy job and I began to understand why my father was normally in a bad mood at the end of the day and just wanted to sit down with a cup of mead, being chief is tough. This is why when I got home the first thing, I'd do was have a cup of mead and then go straight to the bath to relax a bit and calm my nerves. Other than that, I had found some spare time to work on and build some new automatons for underwater harvests which I called 'Snapping crabs' which as the name implies, are designed to look like crabs and were slightly bigger than my palm.

These automatons were like my Supplying sea horses but unlike those which were made to collect samples of solid and tall undersea plant life, these automatons were made to collect things from the seabed. The way they're built is their shells are made from gronkle iron diamond steel that's painted red. Their pincers edges though are blunt and made of latch stone to allow easier grip and to avoid damaging what they collect but blades made from gronkle iron mixed with diamond steel can be pushed out for both cutting things and defense. The bottoms of their legs are also made from latch stone to allow them to easily hold onto rocks they climb onto when collecting thing like barnacles. Their eyes are made of peer stone connected to my eye allowing them to see and allowing me to see what they see and just above their eyes though was the life stone that allows them to function.

The way they work is the insides of their bodies are completely hollow with the top being able to split open four ways so the snapping crabs could place the items they collect into them. They can then open the bottoms of their bodies to drop off what they've collected into jelly fish collectors that have slots fitted for them. It was thanks to these crab automatons that I'd been able to collect a few barnacles which Gothi grinds up for her potions and a few muscles which I use for meals. Sadly, I made the mistake of showing this automaton to my father and Gobber meaning that by the end of the day, everyone knew about it and I got multiple requests for them from the dockworkers. They wanted my crabs to get the barnacles off the bottoms of their ships for them since now they were stuck doing it themselves and it was a job nobody liked since it was so strenuous and took so long. It was for these reasons that the dock workers often used this task as a punishment to both teach the ones doing it a lesson and also to get out of doing it themselves.

Other than that, things have been ordinary for me and my family with us just enjoying our days and enjoying whatever struck our fancy when we were done with our responsibilities for the day. Now I was up in the sky over the ocean, riding Toothless alone since after busy day of chiefly duties, it was nice to have a little alone time with just me and my dragon. I sighed in content as I lay back in the saddle and watched the clouds float by above us as we glided across the sky giving me a feeling of peace. Sadly, my peace didn't last that long as Toothless let out a growl letting me know something was going on, so I sat back up and asked.

"What is it bud?" He gestured down with his head and I saw a large ship on the waters but after a closer look I immediately recognized it as a roman ship. "What would the romans be doing here?" I used the eye of the dragon to get a better look at the ship and immediately recognized it as no ordinary ship. "That's Caesars personal galley, we had lunch on it one time but what would Caesar be doing here." I steered Toothless down. "I think this needs to be checked out bud." He growled until I rubbed his head to calm him down. "Easy there bud, we don't know what's going on so it might be trouble if we go in full force." I reached into my coat and had my spiderpack give me a scouter with a jewelwig on top of it. "Stay above the clouds bud, while these little guys check on the ship." With that said I sent the automatons down to check things out on the ship.

Half-an-hour later

I was still up in the air with Toothless but now I knew what Caesars ship was doing here in the archipelago and it was not something that made me happy and I highly doubt Caesar was happy about it either. The reason for this is the ship was currently being manned by an admiral or former admiral of the Roman navy, named Cato who after dedicating thirty years of his life to the Roman army wasn't pleased with his latest reward for his services. He was given the honor of becoming the commander of Caesars galley and personal fleet of ships but apparently, he wasn't happy with the honor since it was a big job with a lot of work and no pay increase. What he wanted though was not a great honor but a cushy job with high pay and not a lot of work or at least a huge increase in his pay along with a large piece of land so when he retires he could live the lazy life of a rich man who sleeps all day and parties all night.

It's for these reasons he gathered a group of legionaries who he knew were loyal to him since they served under him for years and stole Caesars galley along with a ton of supplies claiming they were going to forces overseas. Along with the supplies they'd also been given a large amount of money that was meant to be used as payment for the forces, overseas. They were able to do all this by forging orders from Caesar himself and then leaving late at night so nobody would be able to see them leaving and get word about what was happening before sounding the alarm. With Rome behind them they intend to sell the galley for a fortune and build their own city on one of the uninhabited islands before living lives of luxury while also attacking passing ships and taking the crew members as slaves. Although, I was not pleased with Cato since not only did he steal Caesars ship and money with the intent to enslave the people of the archipelago to start up his own city but I was grateful to him for bragging about his entire plan to his men since it made things less difficult for me to understand what was happening.

Now I was looking down at the men and saw there were multiple men standing on the deck while Cato was in his cabin with his top subordinates and thanks to the jewelwig I sent in, I saw they discussing which island they'd dock on and set up their base. I knew it best I deal with the ones on deck first and it had to be done quickly before any of them have time to react and warn the others about what was happening. I also had to do this in a way that it didn't damage the ship since Caesar would not be happy if any damage was done to his ship, even if it was done during its reclaiming. I took a breath and knew exactly what the best course of action was when it comes to taking the ship back and gently rubbed Toothless' head as I said.

"Let's do this bud."

He growled and dived down towards the ship while I pulled out five clear Loki balls and loaded them up with my knockout gas before we did a swoop over the ship with me dropping the balls down to the deck. The men had just looked up at us as the balls hit the deck and gas soon covered the entire deck while we hovered slightly above and watched as the men coughed before collapsing. When they were all down for the count we swooped in and landed on the deck while looking around for anyone who was still conscious and smiled when I saw nobody still awake. I dismounted Toothless as I pulled out four crystal shuriken and loaded them with my knockout gas while saying.

"Don't let your guard down bud, there are still a lot of people on this ship that we'll need to deal with before we can relax." He growled and got ready for a fight just as the door to the commanders' quarters slammed open and a group of ten men wearing roman legionary uniforms rushed out and looked around before their eyes landed on us. "You guys looked stressed, why don't you take a nap."

They each roared and pulled out swords before rushing towards us, but it was then I threw my shuriken which shattered on contact, releasing my gas and forming a cloud. When the men emerged, they were coughing before falling to the ground unconscious as I smiled until I heard a door opening and turned to see the trap door leading to the lower decks where the men rowing the boat were. We quickly rushed over to the door just as a man raised his head out but as he did, I kneeled down so we were face to face and as he looked at me, I smiled and said.

"Hey, how's it going?" I then let out a puff of my knockout gas into his face before he fell back down below the decks, unconscious and a few seconds later I heard cries of shock and outrage from below as I turned to Toothless. "They sound a little freaked out down there, don't they bud?" He crooned before I pulled out a handful of eight clear Loki balls and loaded them up with my knockout gas. "Let's give them something to calm down, shall we?" He warbled before I dropped the balls down into the lower decks and closed the hatch as the sounds of startled screams began to come from down below mixed with the sound of people coughing while I turned to Toothless. "They'll all be down for the count in no time and we should be back on the island in time for dinner." He gave a dragon like chuckle until a voice from behind us said.

"I'm afraid you won't be home in time for dinner." I turned around to see a man wearing the gold colored armor of a centurion with a blue crista adorning the top of his helmet with two armed men on either side. "I came out to see what was happening when some of my subordinates didn't come back after hearing a commotion outside and when I come to investigate myself what do I find other than all my men unconscious and none other than the great Hiccup Haddock and his beast on the deck." Toothless growled and got in his battle stance until I placed a hand on his head to calm him.

"Cato, I presume." He raised an eyebrow.

"And how is it that you know my name?"

"The same way I know that you and your men stole this ship along with all the supplies and money that's on it." He smirked.

"Smart man but do you know why I did it?"

"Because you weren't happy with the great honor that was bestowed upon you by Caesar himself." He growled.

"Honor like this is meaningless when you've given thirty years of your life to advance so you may gain a high up position where you'd be able to relax and finally enjoy the fruits of your labor only to receive an even more difficult job with less time off, longer days and no increase in payment." I glared at him.

"Most men would kill for the honor of the position you were given." He smirked as he let out a chuckle.

"Fools like those don't realize how it's better to be rich with gold instead of being poor with honor." I glared at him as I released my two chakram and placed one into my real hand.

"They're not the fools who are blind to what truly matters since when your time comes to leave this world, you can't take the gold with you, but you can die with honor." He just huffed.

"It's a waste of time talking to you and after all the trouble I went through to learn the language, you and your fellow savages use." He then pointed at me. "Kill him and his beast."

The two men on either side who were farthest from him charged at me, but I just smiled and threw my chakram at them and watched as they each split into two and pinned their arms to their bodies and legs together. Their bodies were carried back and pinned to the wall on either side of Cato's men shocking them while I reached onto my weapons sash and pulled out two black shuriken and threw them at the two remaining men. I smiled when they went right through them and instead struck their shadows against the wall behind them paralyzing them while also anchoring them to the spot. Cato was too busy looking at his men who were stuck to the wall in shock to notice before he growled and turned back to me and said.

"Get them you fools." I smiled when they didn't move, and he looked at the one on the left in confusion and anger when they didn't move. "What is wrong with you two?" He turned to the one on the right. "Why are neither of you moving?" I answered him.

"They're not moving because they can't move." He turned to me as I rubbed Toothless' head. "While you were looking at the men pinned to the wall, I threw a little something at your two men that stops them from moving or being moved." He glared and pulled out his own sword.

"I'll take you on myself then." I sighed as he charged at me but as he did my scarf extended making him stop in shock before grabbing the sword and pulling it out of his hands and to me before I examined its jewel encrusted handle.

"Please, I was stronger than you on my last trip to Rome where I was forced to take on the mad man Blood Skull and since then I've added a few new things to my arsenal, gained multiple new skills and of course," I brought out my tail made out of sentient metal. "gathered a few new materials with interesting capabilities that I was able to forge into some new items like my tail here and I find it has quite a few useful abilities" I had the joints split up and float around me at my sides and above my head. "like this handy little ability." I had the joints fly at him and circle around him for three seconds, making him look around uneasy until they flew in and rejoined while wrapping around him and pinning his arms to his sides before lifting him a foot off the ground and carrying him to me as he struggled to break free. "Don't bother struggling, when connected those joints are stronger than any chains." He glared at me.

"When I get out of this, I'm going to make you regret the day you were born." I snorted and turned to Toothless.

"Why can villains never come up with any original threats bud?" He crooned as I turned back to Cato. "And you should have a rest." I raised my prosthetic hand to his face and let out a blast of my knockout gas, knocking him out cold before I turned to Toothless. "And that takes care of that." He crooned as I turned to the trap door leading to the lower decks. "Better be safe and make sure that nobodies still conscious down below deck." I walked towards the trap door while summoning my tail back to its original place, allowing Cato to fall to the deck as I did before open the trap door. "Stay up here and deal with anyone who tries to come up, okay bud?" He growled. "Toothless, it'll be fine since if they're still conscious they'll be nervous due to all the men I took down and when a person is nervous, they make mistakes that lead to defeat." With that said I hopped down into the lower levels to check things out.

Nightfall

I was sitting at the dinner table with my family while we were all enjoying a meal of roast boar, cut up fish, fresh vegetables and bread with a goblet of mead to drink but water for the kids. As always, we'd been using small talk to discuss how our days had been and if anything, interesting had come up for any of us during our daily routines. Brant told us about how he'd gotten the hang of a new move Water had been teaching him that would allow him to redirect an enemy strike easily, Chara had spent her day by the water playing ball with Kal, Blanca explained how some of the higher ranked snake guardians would soon be obtaining human form while Astrid went on about how much progress the riders had made. Presently, I'd just informed them all about my day and finished off telling them about my fight with Cato and it was then Astrid asked.

"Why didn't you just release your ship, and have it pull Caesars Galley into it instead of going through all that trouble before pulling it in?" I smiled at her.

"Now where's the fun in that?" She smiled and rolled her eyes before Blanca asked.

"So where are the Romans you were able to capture?"

"Cooling their heels on Outcast island for now while the Galley is in a bottle on my ship until we can arrange a trip to Rome to return the galley and hand over the prisoners to Caesar for proper punishment." They nodded before Astrid said.

"Sounds like a good excuse to go somewhere for another family vacation." Blanca then said

""I have been curious about the buildings and culture of what some call the greatest city in the world." I rubbed my chin in thought.

"It has been a while since my last trip to Rome and it would be nice to see the local culture again and hopefully this time I can get some peace when out in the market." I snapped my fingers coming to my decision. "Alright, we'll set everything up and leave in three days." Everyone nodded and we all got back to dinner.

3 days later

Everything was taken care of with everything on my island taken care of so there wouldn't be any problems while we're enjoying some down time in Rome but knowing my luck, something would happen that would succeed in both ruining our peaceful time and give me a headache. Before that happens though, I intend to enjoy some quiet down time with my family and have the chance to give them all a tour of the incredible marvel that is Rome. To get there we were going through a portal door that would take us to my villa while the prisoners would be travelling in my ship, except Cato who would be in my mystic Celtic bag so I could present him to Caesar when I was able to arrange a meeting with him.

Now we were all making our way through the portal door that leads to the outside of my Roman Villa which is where me and my family would be living during our time in Rome. It was as we all walked fully through and came to stand in the middle of the large forest that I took a breath, enjoying the familiar smell of the Roman air and sound of rushing water from the nearby river. I turned to everyone who was looking around as I said.

"Welcome to Rome everyone." They all turned to me. "This clearing is our property so please do your best to stay in it while I'm dealing with things in the palace." Astrid then said.

"Alright, but before you go, think you can give us all a quick tour of the house." I smiled.

"Gladly." With that said I lead everyone inside to begin the tour.

1 hour later

It's been an hour since we arrived in Rome and since then I've given my family a tour of the house and had them stay there while I went to handle things with Caesar since I didn't want them getting into any trouble. Now Toothless and I were being led down the familiar halls of Caesars palace to the throne room where Caesar was but as we walked I was warned by the ones leading me that Caesar had been in pretty bad mood for the past few weeks since his Galley was stolen. I simply smiled at him as I told him that I had something to improve Caesars mood a little bit since I was here to return something to him. It was then we walked into the throne room and saw Caesar sitting on his throne, tapping his fingers in thought before his eyes landed on me a small smile formed on his face before I walked up and bowed as I said.

"Ave, Oh Caesar."

"Ave, Hiccup Haddock, it is good to see you back in Rome during these troubling times."

"I heard your Galley was stolen." He nodded.

"By a man I trusted and personally bestowed upon the honor of a new position."

"Yes, the position of commander of your galley and personal fleet of ships." He raised an eyebrow.

"How do you know what his new position was?" He then looked at the guard who brought me in. "Did my men tell you?" I shook my head.

"No, I had a little meeting with Cato on your galley when I was out on a pleasure flight." Hearing this he immediately stood up.

"You found Cato?" I nodded.

"In the archipelago, sailing your galley in the waters near my peoples fishing areas."

"Do you know where he and my galley are now?" I smiled and pulled out my Celtic bag.

"I'll return your galley to you in a little while but as for Cato, he's right here." My bag spat Cato out with his hands, handcuffed behind his back, shocking both Caesar and all those in the room but as I looked at their shocked faces I smiled and shrugged. "Let's just say, a lot has happened since we last met." He smiled.

"And I wish to hear all about it but for now." He turned to two of the guards. "Take this man to the dungeon and lock him up until a suitable punishment can be decided." They both nodded and dragged Cato away as he struggled against them until the doors closed. "Now that he is dealt with may I ask what of the other traitors who followed him?"

"All trapped in the bag until they can be unloaded into cells in the dungeon." He smiled. "Then let us begin." With that said he stood up and lead me out of the room.

Half-an-hour later

I was standing at Caesars private dock, smiling as Caesars galley rose from the water after being released from the bottle it was being held in. Caesar stared in shock as this happened before shaking out of it and looking to me with a smile as he said.

"I do wonder if a day will come where you cease to amaze me." I smiled.

"And I wonder if a day will come where the only thing I'll have to worry about is normal things like being a good husband to my wives and good father to my kids." He raised an eyebrow.

"You're a father now?" I nodded.

"We've adopted a son and daughter since we last met but that's a story for another time." He nodded.

"First things first, Hiccup Haddock you have once again done me a great service in both capturing the criminals who spat on my kindness and returning what they stole from me."

"It was nothing Oh Caesar."

"Never the less, Caesar is not ungrateful and shall grant you a reward as soon as I can decide on a suitable reward for your services but for now I will arrange for a celebration to take place tomorrow night." I smiled at this. "For now, though, I believe it best you go back to your house and settle in with your family." I smiled and nodded before mounting Toothless. "Come on bud, let's go home."

"Thank you, Caesar."

Evening the next day

We arrived in Rome yesterday and during the time that has passed not a lot of things have happened since we spent yesterday simply settling into the house while also going over the culture and how they should act around the people of this land. Today however had been spent with all of us exploring Rome since as expected, the city had expanded since my last visit and I wanted to see all the new sights. We did a little bit of shopping though since with our attire we stuck out like sore thumbs and with how gossip in Rome worked, news of my return spread like wild fire. Soon enough we began getting stares that made us all feel a little uncomfortable but then again, we'd already been getting looks with the girls getting looks of desire from the men, the kids getting looks of curiosity and me receiving looks of shock and awe. The people who were looking at me with these looks of shock and awe were none other than my fans from my past visits to Rome and knew they were curious who those with me were. When the looks became too much we left back for the house since me and my wives needed time to prepare for our evening of dealing with the nobles of this land.

When we left the house, I made sure to leave both Toothless and my ninja to watch over the kids along with three scouters to keep us alert of what's happening. After we left them a dinner of fresh boar meat, bread and vegetables with orders to my ninja to make sure they were in bed after an hour at the latest. Now I was standing in the middle of a large ball room, surrounded by nobles with a goblet of nectar in my right hand, Blanca standing on my left and Astrid on my right side.

For attire, I was wearing my normal formal wear of a toga with my grootslang coat underneath it was my spiderpack while gently draped over my toga was my weapons sash, around my waist was my third arm sash and around my neck is my blade scarf. Along with this around my forehead was my jaguar mask in its headband form and around my neck but hidden under my toga is the shadow eagle pendant and leather chest plate. I also had my lion arm guards with my bandage bands underneath them and my golden leg guards just above my ox flame boots. Astrid on the other hand wore a formal white dress with golden belt lined with rubies and her hair had been done into a loose braid over that had golden leaves braided into it with it ending in a golden ring that tied up the last bit of her hair but she was also armed with her leopard claw bands on her wrists. Blanca was dressed in similar attire with her waste having a thin light blue silk belt with her hair being let down but also had been tied in a small bun with her hairpin in it.

To put it bluntly we all looked the part of people who belonged at the party but we were also armed and ready for any form of trouble that may come our way. So far, the only problems we'd been facing were the nobles who would not stop bothering us for one reason or another but there were those who really got on my nerves. There were the nobles who had daughters that were close to my age and after they found out that I take more than one wife, they were practically shoving what a good wife they'd be down my throat. Then there's the husbands who didn't have daughters but beautiful wives who they were eager to get pregnant with my child so they were making offers that would not stop. The ones that really got under my skin though were the generals and rich business men who offered to give me their superior blood in the form of impregnating my wives but I could tell they really just wanted to bed my wives.

Speaking of my wives, they didn't have it any easier since the nobles had brought their single sons hoping to find them suitable wives but the majority of them were only focused on my wives so they would not stop flirting with them even after telling them that they're married. Then there's the women who were single and looking for husbands so they kept pestering the girls for advice on how to get the attention of the men they desired. When the girls asked why they were coming to them for advice, the answer they were given is that they must have done something special if they were able to not only catch my attention but also marry me and I was the man every single girl in Rome wanted but could never even touch.

Now we were all enjoying a little moment of peace during this party but we could all still feel the stares we were being given by the nobles. To be honest, I was never one to enjoy these big fancy parties and preferred the loud and messy parties like the ones we had back on Berk which normally ended in an all-out brawl between the entire room. This would always end up leaving the room a massive mess with overturned tables, food and spilled everywhere, a few unconscious people and the smell of alcohol flowing through the air while occasionally mixing with the smell of burnt food and if any of the brawlers were near the fires, burnt hair. It was then Caesar stood from his place on his throne and all conversation came to an end and all eyes turned to face the ruler of Rome. He looked out at the crowd before he announced.

"Hiccup Haddock, step forth." I walked to the front of the crowd and bowed to Caesar. "Hiccup Haddock, you are the reason we are all gathered here today, for your deeds in bringing Cato and his men back to Rome to face punishment for their crimes while also bringing my ship back to me, undamaged and such a deed cannot go unrewarded." He clapped his hands and two servants walked forward with one holding a large bag that's slightly bigger than their hand and one was carrying a large item covered with a cloth of red silk and he gestured the first servant with the bag forward and took it before offering it to me. "This gold is the bounty for Cato and his men." He handed it to me before the second servant walked forward. "And this is to thank you for returning my ship back undamaged." The silk was removed to revealed a replica of Caesars galley made of gold which was handed to me with the bag of gold being placed on top of it before I bowed.

"Thank you Oh Caesar." He smiled before clapping.

"Now back to the celebration." We then returned to the celebration with me putting my new belongings on a nearby table with the guards watching it but I knew that with them, my peaceful times were over and I couldn't help but think this trip to Rome was going to be a massive headache.

AN: And this brings an end to this chapter and sorry it's short but I'm doing my best here with what I have going on in my mind. By the way I'm not thinking of putting any monsters in this adventure but you never know what might happen during these adventures. Before I forget, the next chapter might be a little adult with what happens in the next situation Hiccup gets pulled into so if you're not comfortable with that than please skip it.